LAS VEGAS -- The road for the Vegas Golden Knights to get back into their Western Conference Second Round series against the Edmonton Oilers could be a bit rockier.
Defenseman Brayden McNabb might not be available for Game 3 of the best-of-7 series in Edmonton on Saturday (9 p.m. ET CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX) because of an upper-body injury.
McNabb left Game 2 on Thursday at 15:03 of overtime after he crashed into the boards following a hit by Oilers forward Viktor Arvidsson. Vegas lost 5-4 in overtime and trails the series after losing the first two games at home.
McNabb has three assists in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and is averaging 21:14 of ice time, including 2:29 per game short-handed, second on the Golden Knights behind defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (2:58). He leads Vegas with 20 blocked shots.
In good news for the Golden Knights, they may get forward Pavel Dorofeyev back for Game 3, and they learned Friday that forward Nicolas Roy will not face a suspension for cross-checking Oilers forward Trent Frederic on Thursday.
Roy was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for the hit, which occurred at 5:37 of overtime. He was fined $7,812.50 by the NHL Department of Player Safety.
Dorofeyev, who skated with the team Thursday morning and worked primarily with the scratches, will travel to Edmonton and be a game-time decision. He has missed the past three games because of an undisclosed injury sustained against the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of the first round.
Dorofeyev led the Golden Knights with 35 goals in 82 games during the regular season, and has two points (one goal, one assist) in two playoff games.
"He has a chance for tomorrow with the news we've got today," coach Bruce Cassidy said Friday. "That's encouraging."
Even if Dorofeyev comes back into the lineup, the Golden Knights likely will need some depth players to play more prominent roles. Forwards Mark Stone (four), Tomas Hertl (three) and Brett Howden (three) are the only players with more than two goals through the first eight games of the postseason.
"They've got to do their part," Cassidy said. "You look around the room, we probably need a couple of guys in the room to elevate as well, right? We'd love somebody to have a Mikko Rantanen-ish type of game of course. But we're not keeping our fingers crossed. That would be great if it happened. I said a couple of guys may feel like they can give a little more.
"Now's the time."
